Quiet and Warm
by John Smith
Summary: Yugi's home is quiet and warm, much like him. Kaiba Seto isn't used to quiet and warm. Gen.


**Quiet and Warm**

The glass door opened, and she watched with blinking eyes as Kaiba Seto stepped inside the Kame Shop.

"Good afternoon, Kaiba-kun," she greeted with a nod.

"Afternoon," he said, glancing up from his phone only for a second. Then, without looking up again: "Yugi is expecting me." He stopped only when he reached the counter, and she gestured toward the door behind her.

"He is. Go ahead," she said with a smile. He glanced up a second time and nodded just before stepping past her and disappearing behind the door.

With an amused little smile, she leaned her cheek on her hand and gazed at the door. Occasionally, she was reminded of the years Yugi spent with no friends at all. Her smile widened.

—

"Not exactly what I was expecting," Anzu murmured, her voice quiet and warm. She leaned forward and clicked to the next image.

"I guess as long as it works," Yugi responded. The two were seated side-by-side at the computer desk, which had been moved into the living room only recently. He was about to speak again when the door clicked open. Both of them turned to Kaiba as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He wore a white suit today, though Yugi noted that it wasn't the same one he'd last seen him in.

"Kaiba-kun, you made it," Yugi said, standing. He heard the quiet rustle of Anzu's clothing as she stood behind him. When Kaiba didn't answer, he added: "How are you? How's Mokuba?"

"Fine." His voice was quipped but not impatient, and he looked back down at his phone, reading something.

"We weren't sure when you'd get here. I'll make tea," Anzu said, stepping past both him and Kaiba on her way to the small kitchen.

Kaiba didn't answer, so Yugi sat down on the couch and tipped his chin toward a recliner. "You can make yourself at home," he offered, crossing his legs.

"I'm not staying long," Kaiba said, but he sat all the same. His eyes trailed toward the kitchen, maybe just realizing now that he'd accidentally consented to tea with his silence.

"It's no trouble. What was it you needed, Kaiba-kun?" Yugi asked. He had to drive away the desire to look to his right, a longstanding habit that still nagged at him. This was the first time he'd been tempted to look for the pharaoh for a least a week, a thought that came with a mix of bittersweet emotions.

The lack of weight around his neck had become commonplace months ago.

"Yugi," Kaiba finally lowered his phone to his lap, although Yugi could still see that the screen was lit. "I need your deck and any cards you've used consistently."

The demand was steep and came without preamble. Yugi wasn't sure how he would have reacted if Kaiba had asked him this over the phone, but now that they sat just feet apart he had no idea what to say. He glanced up to his right—no one was there—and then back to Kaiba with a stare he hoped portrayed his confusion.

"That's... a very strange request, Kaiba-kun," he said finally.

"I'm not going to keep them, obviously." It was all Kaiba said when his phone buzzed and he raised it back to his gaze. Yugi crossed his arms and bit his lip.

"What do you want it for, exactly?" he asked.

This time, Kaiba did not lower his phone, but his stare did rise from its screen to pierce into Yugi. "I'm running tests on cards for a project that personalizes the Duel Disk to its user in nearly every way. You're a good candidate because your strategies and decks vary enough to likely generate bugs."

It was a vague description of something much more complex. That much Yugi could tell.

"Could you be a little more specific?"

"Not really," Kaiba said, eyes flicking back to his phone. "It's in the early stages."

"Kaiba-kun, if I'm going to trust you with my cards—"

"Oh please, Yugi. I don't want your cards for any personal reason. This is business." He raised an eyebrow but still didn't look up from his phone. Yugi sighed and uncrossed his arms, his eyes closing in resignation.

"Kai—"

"What is it?" The harsh change in tone silenced Yugi and sent his brows up, but the phone was to Kaiba's ear now. "That's ludicrous. Cancel the meeting," he snapped after a moment. Then: "I don't care." He spoke with irritation and rolled his eyes as he lowered the phone again. With a sigh through his nose, he crossed his arms and turned his gaze back to Yugi.

"You can say no if you want to. I have other candidates, and I don't plan to stay for tea."

"How long would you need them for?" Yugi asked.

"A week."

They gazed at one another for a moment, and Yugi's thoughts teetered away from the proposition and toward something entirely unrelated: Kaiba looked exhausted, far more than he usually did.

"Are you stalling or thinking?" he asked after a moment. His words, quipped as they were, sounded downright patient compared to the tone he'd used on the phone just moments ago.

"Thinking." Yugi took a deep breath and exhaled. "I suppose it's fine. I'm guessing you want them now."

"If possible."

Yugi nodded and stood. "I'll be a moment."

He glanced back just briefly before heading to the stairs. Kaiba had returned his attention to his phone.

—

Anzu waited in the kitchen quietly as the water heated. Normally she would have joined her friends in the living room, but neither she nor Yugi had known what Kaiba had wanted, and she had felt that privacy was prudent.

She listened to their quiet voices, muffled and indiscernible with the kettle quietly simmering, and was just pouring the water when they went silent. She tapped her foot on the floor and chewed her lip in thought as she waited.

It was still silent when she poured the tea into the cups and picked up all three, heading back into the living room. Yugi wasn't here anymore, and Kaiba sat facing away from her with posture that suggested he was positively bored. Her socks made almost no noise as she crossed the room, and she had placed all three mugs down when she finally turned and faced him.

Kaiba had leaned his cheek on a fist, his elbow on the arm of the chair. His phone was still in his other hand, which rested limply in his lap. Even breaths lifted his shoulders and then lowered them in deep, slow draws. He was asleep, still sitting in place.

Anzu paused, her lips parted in surprise. It was beyond unusual and almost bordered on surreal to see him dozing off just like Honda or Jounouchi might.

She thought about moving his phone, but it seemed secure enough. She quietly padded up the stairs instead. The door to Yugi's bedroom was still open, but she knocked anyway.

"Anzu?" He was sitting on his bed, holding a large set of Duel Monsters cards in his hands.

"So what does he want?" she asked, stepping in. If his bed hadn't been covered in more cards, she would have sat next to him. Instead, she took a seat on his wooden chair and leaned an arm on the back of it.

"My cards," he answered. At this, Anzu sat up rigid.

"What? Are you really going to hand them over to him?" she asked, blinking with surprise. She had to work to keep anything too incredulous out of her tone or expression. Yugi knew what he was doing.

"He wants to borrow them for a week to test something for the latest Duel Disk," Yugi clarified. It settled Anzu a little bit more, but not fully. Yugi had gone back to what she'd seen him doing when she had first approached the door—sifting through the cards and setting some aside in a pile next to him. Suddenly he paused and looked back up at her. "Did he leave?" he asked.

Anzu shook her head, and she couldn't help the smirk that crept to her lips. Yugi did not miss it, tilting his head with question.

"He dozed off," she answered his unspoken question. "I didn't want to wake him up."

Yugi formed a silent _oh_ with his mouth and then got a look she couldn't quite place. "He looked very tired," he commented, going back to his card sorting. Anzu's smile came back, soft and sentimental. Yugi cared for and worried about everyone in his own way.

The two sat without speaking for a bit longer, and Anzu thought back to the tea that was sitting on the table downstairs. She should have brought up their cups, but no sooner had the thought crossed her mind that Yugi stood and stretched. He bunched up the large pile of cards on his bed and tapped them until they were perfectly aligned. It was a very oversized deck, and he split it to place into a case that had slots for two decks before heading toward the door.

Anzu watched the back of his head as he descended the stairs, and she smirked with amusement when he paused at the bottom and looked back up at her as though he needed her help. When she reached him, she found Kaiba still asleep, much as she'd left him. However, his phone had slid and was being held in place precariously by two fingers.

Yugi placed his deck container on the table, and she stepped past him to crouch before Kaiba. It was oddly nerve-wracking, reaching out to take his phone. She thought that disarming a bear trap might feel about the same.

"We could wake him up," Yugi offered.

She turned to look at him so she could keep her voice quiet. "I don't want him to drop it," she offered back. It was a bit of a moot point, what with the carpeted floor, but she imagined that Kaiba Seto's phone was bound to be expensive enough to worry over.

Yugi's expression shifted, and she turned back just in time to see Kaiba come awake instantaneously. His eyes focused on her and she leaned back, almost falling over.

"Uh, sorry. Didn't want your phone to fall," she said, brushing hair behind her ear. With a glance away, she stood to back up and sit next to Yugi on the couch, picking up her tea quickly.

Kaiba's gaze left her and swept the room around him. He did not stretch but sat up straight, tugging at the bottom of his suit jacket. Then he lifted his phone and awakened it, taking a quick glance at the lock screen before pocketing it.

There was a round splash of pink on his cheek where it had been pressed to his fist.

"It's only been a few minutes," Anzu said. "You should take it easy, Kaiba-kun. Have some tea," she nodded toward the cup that sat before him.

He didn't answer, gaze flicking to Yugi instead. "Are you done?" he asked, looking at the container on the table now.

"Yeah. Here," Yugi picked it up and stood to hand it to Kaiba. He did not stand to receive it, which Anzu found curious. She had fully expected him to leave without bothering with the tea, but decorum demanded she make it for him anyway.

When he placed the container on the table and took a sip of tea, she was genuinely surprised.

"What is this?" he asked, addressing her now for the first time in the entire exchange.

"Bancha," Anzu answered. He gave a single nod, took another sip, and then stood with the container.

"I'll have it back to you in a week, Yugi," he said. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled an envelope free from an inner jacket pocket and placed it onto the table before turning away and heading out.

"I hope to see you soon, Kaiba-kun," Yugi said, walking after him.

"It was nice seeing you, Kaiba-kun," Anzu chimed in. She stood to say it but remained in place, her cup of tea still warm in her hand.

"Don't get too complacent, Yugi. I'm going to beat you." Kaiba spoke with his hand resting on the door's knob. He turned it and left, closing the door in Yugi's face before he could follow.

"Nice," Anzu said flatly. She took a sip of her tea. Yugi sighed and turned back, a hand to the back of his head. "You sure you want to trust him with those?" she asked.

"I can't help but feel like it's a step in the right direction," he responded with a shrug. "I don't think he's ever asked for a favor before."

"Yeah, but couldn't he just be snooping for strategies to beat you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yugi smiled. "The Duel Disks register decks already. It won't be anything new. I'm not worried about it." He shrugged again, and Anzu mimicked the action.

"As long as you're fine with it." Her eyes trailed back to the table, where Kaiba's envelope still laid. "Do you know what's in there?" she asked.

"Actually, no." Yugi strode over and picked it up. It was unsealed, and he pulled out a single check. His eyes grew wide. "Uh." His eyebrows furrowed.

"Did he _pay_ you?" she scoffed. She stepped next to Yugi, cramming her face next to his to read the check. Her own face must have been just as shocked as his. " _A hundred thousand yen!?_ " she asked, snatching the check out of his hands. "You just made a hundred thousand yen by letting Kaiba borrow your cards?"

"I guess so," Yugi answered, looking a little dazed.

"I wonder if he wants to borrow my cards," she muttered.

Yugi laughed, but it was short. His expression sobered. "I can't accept this," he shook his head softly.

"You don't have to cash it," she offered. "But I wouldn't think too far into it. It's probably so he doesn't feel like he owes you."

Yugi laughed again, this time more merrily. "You're probably right."

—

He awakened to dreams or memories—he wasn't sure which—of soft voices and fevers.

Yugi's house was too quiet and too warm. It was a mild irritant to him that his truest rival, or one of the two of them, was content to live such a plain life.

Seto left the payment and stepped out of the quiet living room into the quiet shop. He reached for his phone almost immediately.

"Come again soon," Yugi's mother said, offering a little wave. Again, he gave her a nod and continued out. Frankly it was bizarre, falling asleep like that. Even when being driven about, he always maintained himself and remained awake.

Seto ducked into the car awaiting him without a word and blinked the sleep from his eyes.

Well, it wouldn't happen again. He might just send Mokuba to drop the cards back off.

Without realizing it, Seto had opened the case and tipped one card up with his finger. He plucked it up and flipped it over, revealing the Dark Magician. With a soft snort, he placed it back down and snapped the case shut, setting it aside.

His phone buzzed again, and he found a text from Mokuba this time, asking what he would be eating for dinner.

"Sir?" The driver had waited in silence and finally spoke now.

"Home."


End file.
